Of course, a central banker in the football-mad South would turn to the sport for a metaphor on the jobs market.

That’s what Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed, used Monday to discuss the jobs market. The unemployment rate — using the prerecession peak as the goal line — has moved down field an impressive 65 yards.

But look at other measurements, like marginally attached workers, the employment-to-population rate and the involuntary part-time employment rate, which are stuck on their own side of the field, much like the woeful Atlanta Falcons this year. (The Falcons comparison was the author’s, not Lockhart’s, for what it’s worth.)

“To sum up, these comparisons of employment data suggest that the labor market is not as healthy as the improved unemployment rate might indicate. The unemployment rate drop may overstate progress achieved,” Lockhart says.

His relative pessimism, however, doesn’t deter his support for the tapering of bond purchases. “If the positive outlook I’ve outlined plays out, I would support similar tapering steps over the course of this year,” Lockhart said.